Magic of the FFA Cup arrives in Gosford

In it’s second instalment, the Westfield FFA Cup is capturing the imagination of the Australian football public with Hyundai A-League giants travelling the nation to mix with small suburban clubs consisting of part-timers.

The match poses a tough challenge for the Central Coast, with Wellington coming off a Hyundai A-League finals appearance in 2014/15, however Walmsley believes the Mariners have the personnel and tactical approach to get past the Phoenix.

“What we do know about Wellington is they’re a good team, a top team. They’ve lost a bit of their cutting edge with Cunningham and Burns having moved on. It looks like former Mariner Kwabena Appiah will probably start for them, so we know what his attributes are,” Walmsley said.

“They’re going to be good, they get into pockets well, they’ve got Bonevacia and McGlinchey who are good technical players, very mobile.

“But we’ve got pace. We’ve got pace at the back and we’re going to continue working on our pressing game and we’re going to continue to be inventive and positive with the ball so it should be a good night.”

Walmsley cited new central defensive additions Harry Ascroft and Jake McGing as players to watch in this area, after seeing the pair impress at training and recent pre-season friendlies.

The ‘Gaffer’ went on to express his praise for the format of the Westfield FFA Cup, with its competitive nature providing a welcome challenge to build confidence in his squad ahead of the Hyundai A-League season.

“[The Westfield FFA Cup] is an opportunity to build some belief. The coaching staff and the support staff have got a great belief in how the boys have been turning up, how they’ve presented at training,” Walmsley said.

“The FFA Cup’s an early opportunity to actually put some proof around what we think they’re capable of. If you get through the first round, which is our ambition, we don’t know where we’re going to play, we don’t know who we’re going to play against and there’s some excitement around that. It makes pre-season far more enjoyable than if we were just playing friendlies every week.”

In 2015, the Mariners will be looking to go one better than last year when they were eliminated by Adelaide United at the Semi-Final stage.